Bridgewater woman convicted in fatal drunk driving case

A Bridgewater woman was convicted this week in a fatal drunk driving case.

Staff Reporter

BRIDGEWATER – A Bridgewater woman was convicted this week in a 2011 fatal drunk driving case that killed an Easton woman and injured a Sharon couple.

Patricia Neville-Colp, 51, of Bridgewater, was convicted of motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence, two counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

The jury returned the verdict after 2 1/2 days of deliberation.

“This was an awful crash, with terrible, painful injuries and trauma,” Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said. “All entirely preventable. All caused by the decision to drink and then drive.”

On September 10, 2011, Neville-Colp was merging onto Route 24 in Randolph when her SUV t-boned another vehicle traveling south, spinning the vehicle around and causing it to roll over several times.

Maureen Ellis, 57, of Easton, was thrown from the vehicle during the crash and would be pronounced dead at the scene after suffering massive head and lower body trauma. Her sister, Martha Cadoff, and brother-in-law, Steve Cadoff, survived the crash, but were taken to Boston Medical Center with serious injuries.

The first state trooper to arrive at the scene reported smelling alcohol on Neville-Colp’s breath, observing bloodshot, glassy eyes, thick-tongued speech and testified that she was swaying and failing to follow directions during field sobriety tests.

At the scene, Neville-Colp told police that she was traveling home from her job as a hairdresser in Randolph at the time of the accident, but she would subsequently admit that she had stopped at a local VFW and had been drinking before entering the highway.

Over an hour later, Neville-Colp would submit to a Breathalyzer test. She was incapable of blowing a sufficient amount of air into the machine on her first five attempts, but on the sixth attempt she registered a blood alcohol level of .13. The legal limit in Massachusetts is .08.

Following Neville-Colp’s arrest, a search of her vehicle revealed a partially burnt marijuana cigarette, as well.

Neither Neville-Colp’s attorney, nor the Cadoff family could be reached for this story.

Neville-Colp will be sentenced at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15 in Norfolk Superior Court.